Was Martha a Vandella??

[marv2]

Hmm. I remember reading something like that, RanRan. I believe it was so they could charge for two different acts and make more money. Instead of "The Miracles" [[with Smokey as lead singer) it was "Smokey Robinson" [[as a solo artist) and "The Miracles" [[as a separate group). Two acts = two times the money? Something like that. Maybe.

Of course the other reason for having the group name with the lead singer's name out front was to prepare the lead singer for a solo career!

Yeah but they were going to perform as ONE Group, singing THEIR set of popular hit songs. In none of the acts cited here did the group leave the stage and the lead singer performed alone for part of the concert. Going further, there was not a time when the remaining members of the group performed without their designated lead singer. The explanation given by the record company does not hold up well under scrutiny.

[RanRan79]

I guess it's possible that Motown could have negotiated higher fees after the name change. It's hard to imagine, though, that Motown could go to the Copa in early 67 and have the Supremes booked for a certain fee and then turn around later that same year or in early 68 [[whenever they played the Copa again) and convince the place to give them more money than last time because the name had changed. If the higher fee story is true, I can only see it working with never before played venues or venues that the groups hadn't worked in some time.

[RanRan79]

Hmm. I remember reading something like that, RanRan. I believe it was so they could charge for two different acts and make more money. Instead of "The Miracles" [[with Smokey as lead singer) it was "Smokey Robinson" [[as a solo artist) and "The Miracles" [[as a separate group). Two acts = two times the money? Something like that. Maybe.

Of course the other reason for having the group name with the lead singer's name out front was to prepare the lead singer for a solo career!

I think the name change was done to prepare one singer for a solo career: Diana Ross. I find it hard to believe that in 1967 Gordy gave even a first thought to Martha Reeves without the Vandellas. And while he may have figured Smokey might outgrow the Miracles at some point, I don't know if Gordy saw Smokey as a star all on his own. Diana Ross' name in front of the Supremes made sense for what Gordy had planned. David Ruffin's name in front of the Tempts made no sense since the group was so generous with sharing leads, although he certainly seemed the most logical choice for a solo career. As has been stated before, Levi in front of the Tops would have been problematic because of the "four". To me the most appropriate name change never even took place: Wanda Rogers and the Marvelettes. After Gladys left Wanda was doing just about all the leads herself. I wonder if Katherine would have minded?

[marv2]

I guess it's possible that Motown could have negotiated higher fees after the name change. It's hard to imagine, though, that Motown could go to the Copa in early 67 and have the Supremes booked for a certain fee and then turn around later that same year or in early 68 [[whenever they played the Copa again) and convince the place to give them more money than last time because the name had changed. If the higher fee story is true, I can only see it working with never before played venues or venues that the groups hadn't worked in some time.

I think the name change/higher fee story was concocted to keep dissension in the groups to a minimum. The story was designed to make the singling out of the lead singer by name acceptable to the other members. After all, it was business right? LOL!

[luke]

Exactly Marv. Silly rationale

[reese]

I think the name change was done to prepare one singer for a solo career: Diana Ross. I find it hard to believe that in 1967 Gordy gave even a first thought to Martha Reeves without the Vandellas. And while he may have figured Smokey might outgrow the Miracles at some point, I don't know if Gordy saw Smokey as a star all on his own. Diana Ross' name in front of the Supremes made sense for what Gordy had planned. David Ruffin's name in front of the Tempts made no sense since the group was so generous with sharing leads, although he certainly seemed the most logical choice for a solo career. As has been stated before, Levi in front of the Tops would have been problematic because of the "four". To me the most appropriate name change never even took place: Wanda Rogers and the Marvelettes. After Gladys left Wanda was doing just about all the leads herself. I wonder if Katherine would have minded?

Of the three, Smokey was actually the first to receive separate billing, back in 1965 on albums. For some reason, this didn't extend to singles until 1967. Once Diana received her billing as well, I assume "Reeves" was added to Martha's so that there was at least some sense of consistency.

But as you wrote, I would suspect in the case of Diana, it was the first step towards preparing her for a solo career, similar to how the billing of Debarge changed to highlight El.

[RanRan79]

I think the name change/higher fee story was concocted to keep dissension in the groups to a minimum. The story was designed to make the singling out of the lead singer by name acceptable to the other members. After all, it was business right? LOL!

Yes it was. Perhaps if everyone had remembered from day one that the music business is indeed a business, there would have been less bitterness from some of the people.

[RanRan79]

Of the three, Smokey was actually the first to receive separate billing, back in 1965 on albums. For some reason, this didn't extend to singles until 1967. Once Diana received her billing as well, I assume "Reeves" was added to Martha's so that there was at least some sense of consistency.

But as you wrote, I would suspect in the case of Diana, it was the first step towards preparing her for a solo career, similar to how the billing of Debarge changed to highlight El.

I didn't realize Smokey was getting separate billing that early Reese. That's interesting.